A long road to nowhere

'You're welcome,' Miyuki said, her voice syrupy with amusement. She followed the Charmander about five metres back, trailing a path of frost as she goes, not that the illusion would reveal it. 'Though I think Queen is a bit presumptuous, don't you? You'd need subjects. And a council of advisors. And a crown.' She giggled. 'Most hatchling kings and queens would have been so because their parents were dead, you know.'

Core paused looking back at Miyuki with her usual cocky grin and said. "Well, I am a queen in my own mind! And one day, I'll be a queen of all pokemon ever! Even the great fire pokemon in the sky will bow before my greatness!" Core bellowed into the cavern ahead still slightly shivering. She used the majority of her energy to keep from shivering and the rest for dodging stray water droplets, despite some reaching her and burning but hey, no pain no gain right?

Core's cocky-determined smile remained on her face for a while as she slightly hoped the speed she was racing at wouldn't cause another head on collision!

It wouldn't. Wherever she's going, there's not a wall in the way.

'You know that there isn't a Pokémon in the sky, right? If anything, it is Amaterasu-ōmikami, or, if you don't go for the old religion, it's a flaming ball of gas.' Miyuki examines her fingers. 'A Volcarona once saved the Pokémon, back on the islands with the humans, when volcanic ash filled the sky and blocked out the sun, because its wings shone so brightly. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.' She watches the water fall. 'Will you be able to make the River stop dripping on you? Or the sands of the desert to stop buffeting your scales? Would you make the winds cower so much that they refuse to blow, or the snow to melt at your feet and flee your very presence?'

"Mph!" Core groaned in annoyance at the thought of being able to control everything and everything being so easy to control. She wouldn't admit to this Frolass that anything is possible but she'd do it no matter how long it took! "A floating ball of gas? Sounds like it is a cousin of Koffing? That also sounds gross, I wonder if it needs herbs to fart away it's troubles! The lazy gas!" Core giggled as she continued to dodge the falling water wincing slightly as it fell upon her and trying not to shout out her misery and pain. 

Such things shouldn't even be considered possible!

'Yes,' Miyuki echoed in amusement. 'That lazy gas.' She tilted her head. 'Tell me, dear, where are your parents? Surely someone your age and level shouldn't be wandering around the island by yourself. And are they as beautifully white as you?' She giggled, the sound echoing off the cavern walls. 'I might have to see it for myself.'

Core closed her eyes and paused for a few minutes to catch her breath, feeling the heavy icy darkness slowly begin to consume her. "I *Pant* am the only *Pant* one like this in my *Pant* family..." She then felt like she was going to collapse but continued to hover over the very essence keeping her alive in this icy wet maze of death! "M-my father..." Her voice became inaudible as the wheezed for air outdoing herself a bit as much as she tried to hide it, pretending to stop and look at a shiny rock. She then clenched her jaw as her scales began to slowly lose the feeling of water dripping down... this wasn't good... If water was dripping down, she'd lost more energy than she'd originally thought and the fire within was slowly being snuffed out!!

Despite all of this, she slowly got up again and half smiled up at Miyuki. "I'm gonna win!" She said a bit under her breath. She had to be honest with herself, things were looking grim for both her and her pride. She quickly got up and shook off not really wanting to seem like the weak fool every other pokemon had once thought she was. She flashed back to all those times of being teased and pushed around... Never again would she let that happen! NEVER! She sent a small growl, too weak to put off any pp and turned back around to continue to trudge on through the darkness. She knew her tail would go out at any moment but she just HAD to beat it! If she was going to die this way, she'd die a heroine!

A wall, in her way.

'You didn't answer my questions,' Miyuki sing-songed, gliding along behind Core and coming to a stop. 'My darling Charmander, there is a line between giving up and conceding with grace. It's no use dying during an impossible quest, and though your mettle is admirable, your self-preservation is lacking.' She crossed her arms, bobbing slightly in the air. She looked disappointed, and it was probable that she felt that way, for the Game, always the Game, was of the utmost importance.

Core folded her arms once she'd reached a dry spot next to the wall and sat down for a while. "Oh, don't you worry! I'm gonna win no matter what!" The fiery albino roared into the air through the annoying trickles of water while shaking a fist at Miyuki. "My folks live in a cave on the other side of the Darkwoods! Ain't nobody ever tried messing with 'em without being fainted or burnt! Mama's got all these scars from fights she'd won and Dad... well, yeah, but Mama's never lost! Not even once! She's my role model!"

((She's also got a Chameleon brother named "Rico" who's all obsessed with himself and his muscles, but he likes going by "Inferno" because it sounds cooler.))

'Your father?' Miyuki prompted, digging deeper. 'Is he, too, as fierce as you claim you and your mother are? He must be, to have fathered one so strong in spirit as you.' Miyuki looked up, blowing on the water droplets until they froze into place, stopping the droplets from distracting from their conversation.

Core growled at the mention of her father... what a stupid pink blob! It wasn't like she'd ever mention him especially to this Frolass! Not now, not ever!! She snorted feeling the rest of the heat within her slowly begin to boil yet again. "WHY DOES IT MATTER!!" The molten part of Core was beginning to slip through yet again, the fiery attitude refusing to back down despite her physical state! She slowly picked herself up and stomped on the ground now getting angrier than ever, yet slowed due to the chill still lingering in the air. 

"THAT STUPID PINK BLOB NEVER STOOD UP FOR ANYTHING AND HE'S DEFINITELY NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO EVEN BE CONSIDERED A POKEMON!" Tears began to leak down the side of her face not really wanting to be considered half of a barely capable Pokemon. Core tried to wipe them away trying to pretend they'd never even come yet she was unable this time. "ALWAYS HAVING TO HIDE BEHIND THE FORMS AND MOVES OF OTHER POKEMON JUST TO EVEN BE CONSIDERED STRONG... PATHETIC! HE'S NOTHING BUT A COWARD!" 

She then turned and ran for all she was worth down the hall, continuing the Frolass's little game. She shook off the tears, now even more determined than ever to beat this game.

Miyuki looked after her, contemplating her outward reaction. Children were easily manipulated, as proven, and ultimately it was the words and actions of those around them that caused them to mould and shift to different shapes of character. Silly, to see others lost in prejudice and society's standards. It's best to play off of what it expects, she mused.

In the end, she'd said nothing. This game was simple: give up, or die. Granted, she was starting to get bored with the watching and waiting and watching and waiting. Strong-willed, brave idiots are always the heroes, and she supposed that was the reason why. The villains, the sly, clever ones, just got bored.

This time, instead of following, she waited.

((Dangit, so sorry >.<))

Core kept going, shaking the last of the tears off. She hurdled through the water maze as she made it deeper into the cave wondering if it was ever going to end. It was either do or die for her and she wasn't going to take the die part. She smirked holding her flameing tail under her chin trying to avoid getting it wet despite the very painful ones that had splashed upon her back making her quickly lose faith as well as hp. This was bad, she didn't know how much more she could keep giving this and it certainly wasn't going to be easy to keep this up. She snarled at herself for almost assuming the worst. 'Aww, come on! You're Molten freaking Core! You can do this, you've dealt with worse!!' Admittedly, her legs were slowly freezing up moving slower and slower as she attempted to keep the inside of her body warm despite not having flame body as well as no fire moves.

'You'll kill yourself, doing that,' Miyuki commented once the Charmander had disappeared from view, her voice bouncing off the walls and echoing more than usual. 'How sad would your mother be, to lose her little warrior? Your blob of a father would fall apart, maybe literally.' She giggled. 'I might have to see it for myself.'

((Birthday parties, cake candles bleh >.< And after party sickness, yeah I had a fun b-day XD So sorry for posting so late!))

When Core wheeled around to face the Frolass, her face bore the resemblance of both exhaustion as well as agitation at the mention of her father. She knew now that she'd die in this cave being as the frigid air wrapped around her icy scales and the water still being able to evaporate off of her in tiny 'Fssh' sounds. "THEN WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST??" She would have roared given fact she was trying to hide the massive amount of pain as each water droplet was slowly washing her life force away. She panted loudly waiting for an answer from a pokemon she'd once thought of as an idol or someone to look up to rather than the conniving fire child slayer she was turning out to be.

((I started colouring Miyuki's text, don't mind the change))

'Give up,' she suggested, shrugging innocently. 'Admit that you can't win this one. Maybe you and I can go get some food, and I'll send you on your merry way. Because I'm feeling generous, of course. You can try again when you're stronger and you can stand the feeling of the cold crawling down your back.' She blew up at the ceiling, freezing the water again to keep it from escaping and interrupting.

((Nah, I don't mind it!))

Core glared at the very thought of giving up and maybe Miyuki was right... She'd have to or die, this Frolass wasn't playing around, she really wanted to either test her limits or at least get rid of her for fun?? 'What in Mew-dom did I even do to deserve this? I'm a frixen fire type not some lowly weedle, come on!! I CAN'T GIVE UP, YOU'RE A FRIXEN CORE, A MOLTEN CORE AT THAT!' She balled her fists and slowly sat down and literally folded her arms despite the frost now being able to bite harder through her defenses. Sweat drops began to roll down her face showing just how much effort she was putting into just staying alive and warm. She pulled her tail in front of her fighting to stay conscious and also checking the low flame her tail was currently at. She felt sick, very sick at how low it actually was and quickly wrapped it around herself the best she could.

'Hmm. I've made your decision for you. You've lost.' Miyuki waved her hand and revealed that, in fact, they'd just been walking in circles in a very large cavern for hours. 'But you never gave up. You have heart, hatchling. I wish to see you again when you have grown strong enough to master my puzzles without my charity.' She tilted her chin at the door, displeasure evident on her face, but she was indeed letting the Charmander go.